1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a micro-tip for near-field light, a method for generating near-field light by using the micro-tip, a probe including the micro-tip, a storage apparatus including the probe, a surface observation apparatus, an exposure apparatus, a method for manufacturing a device and a method for manufacturing a probe including the micro-tip for near-field light.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, a scanning tunneling microscope (hereafter referred to as ‘STM’) capable of directly observing the electron structure of surface atoms of a conductor was developed (G. Binning et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., 49, 57 (1983)), and thereby, a real space image was able to be measured with high resolution regardless of single crystal or amorphous substance. Since then, considerable researches have been done on scanning probe microscopes (hereafter referred to as ‘SPMs’) in the field of evaluation of microstructures of materials.
Examples of SPMs include, for example, scanning tunneling microscopes (STMs), atomic force microscopes (AFMs), magnetic force microscopes (MFMs) and scanning near-field optical microscopes (SNOMs), in which surface structures are detected using a tunneling current, an interatomic force, a magnetic force, light and the like attained by bringing a probe including a micro-tip close to a specimen to be evaluated. The SNOM is a type of SPM, and performs a measurement through the use of near-field light generated from a micro-aperture with a resolution of λ/2 or less which has been considered to be impossible to achieve with respect to conventional optical microscopes. Consequently, fine pattern shapes of specimen surfaces and the like are nondestructively measured with high resolution. Furthermore, since the SNOM can use specimens of living bodies, cells and other materials which were conventionally difficult to be observed, various types of subject can be observed, and therefore, the SNOM is applied in wide areas.
A sharp micro-tip was proposed for generating near-field light in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-293134. However, in the case where near-field light is generated using a micro-aperture provided at the tip of the sharp micro-tip, when the aperture diameter of the above-mentioned micro-aperture is decreased to improve the resolution, the efficiency of generation of the near-field light is reduced. Therefore, further improvement of the efficiency of generation is required. When the tip is sharpened, prevention of deformation in the shape of the micro-tip during the manufacturing process and during use is also required.